Both USC, Minnesota remain mysteries

USC plays Minnesota for the first time in 30 years. Trojans Coach Lane Kiffin could age that much in one game if his team continues to disappoint, as it seemingly has in two victories. Staff writer Gary Klein looks at some of the issues as the No. 18 Trojans play the Golden Gophers:

Confidence game

USC should be riding high with its 2-0 record. Instead, everyone from Kiffin to Las Vegas oddsmakers is trying to figure out the Trojans, who have dropped two spots in the Associated Press media poll after each of their victories.

USC has been topsy-turvy, looking great on offense and poor on defense against Hawaii, vice versa against Virginia.

Will the real USC team please stand up? Or has it?

Minnesota also is a bit of mystery. The Golden Gophers are 1-1 after games against Middle Tennessee State and South Dakota. Last week’s 41-38 upset by South Dakota at home took some of the luster off Saturday’s game. But if USC looks past the Gophers….

Pass or fail?

Neither USC quarterback Matt Barkley nor Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber has had a pass intercepted. Nationally, they rank 12th and 25^th in passing.

Barkley has completed 66% of his passes, with seven touchdowns. It would have been eight had one not been nullified by one of the Trojans’ 13 penalties against Virginia. Barkley showed improved mobility with a 20-yard scramble against Virginia, but he also misfired several times when receivers were open or had beaten defenders.

Barkley faces a secondary that ranks 97th among 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in pass defense. The Gophers, however, should be improved with the return of senior safety Kyle Theret, who sat out the first two games because of a suspension. Theret’s return will take pressure off freshman safety James Manuel.

Weber, a fifth-year senior, has started 40 consecutive games. He has completed 65% of his passes with three touchdowns.

While USC ranks 116th in pass defense, sophomore safety T.J. McDonald helped the Trojans defeat Virginia with his first interception.

Both passing attacks could be affected by inclement weather. The forecast, though, calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s.

Rush to judgment

Say what you want about the competition he has faced, but Duane Bennett of the Gophers still ranks sixth nationally in rushing, averaging 145.5 yards a game.

He will go up against a Trojans defensive front that could have more players rotating in and out if end Nick Perry and tackle Armond Armstead remain limited by injuries.

USC’s Marc Tyler averages 110.5 rushing yards a game, which leads the Pacific 10 Conference and ranks 23rd nationally. But freshman Dillon Baxter is now past his first-game jitters, and he could be the element Kiffin deploys to expand an offense that staggered against Virginia.

“I haven’t really gotten a chance to really burst out and show what I can do,” Baxter said. “I just need a little bit of open field and I’ll be good.”

No telling

Kiffin adopted the silent treatment this week, thinking that if he didn’t address penalties with his players the Trojans might not commit so many.

But USC’s national standing speaks volumes: The Trojans have amassed a nation-worst 240 penalty yards while being flagged 24 times.

USC survived its lack of discipline against Hawaii and Virginia, but the Trojans would be wise to improve against a Minnesota team that has been penalized only nine times and is eager to show it can bounce back from the upset by South Dakota.

Seems like old times

Kiffin went to high school in Minnesota and interviewed in 2007 for the job that eventually went to Gophers Coach Tim Brewster. And Monte Kiffin coached for many years with the Minnesota Vikings.

The best coaching story of this game, however, involves Minnesota offensive line coach Tim Davis and USC defensive line coach Ed Orgeron. Both were members of Pete Carroll’s staff at USC from 2002-2004.

In those days, both were screamers, which led to many hysterical exchanges across the line of scrimmage during practices.

“We were friends but we went at it,” Orgeron said Friday at the team hotel. “He’s doing a great job with his guys so we need to play well.”

Orgeron suffered a broken foot last week, so he will be on crutches on the sideline. Davis will be scheming from across the field. The question is what will be louder: The crowd at year-old TCF Bank Stadium or Orgeron and Davis?

gary.klein@latimes.com